Berkeley: Sister of slain Chilean is 'disappointed' case remains unsolved 3 years later

Bay City News

Posted:
09/12/2013 10:48:02 AM PDT

Updated:
09/12/2013 10:50:46 AM PDT

BERKELEY - As the third anniversary of the shooting death of Adolfo Ignacio Celedon Bravo in Berkeley nears, his sister said today that she's disappointed that the case hasn't yet been solved and asked for people to provide information on her brother's death.

Alejandra Celedon, Bravo's older sister, who traveled from Chile to Berkeley to observe the sad anniversary, said, "It's disappointing that after three years we don't have any more consistent information and leads about his death."

Celedon said her family "is still confident" in the investigation by Berkeley police but, "We wish to have a solution as soon as we can."

Sept. 12, 2010, was Adolfo Celedon's 35th birthday and he and his fiancie Amber Nelson were planning to get married in the near future. They had met in Chile, where he was from, in February 2008 when Nelson was vacationing there.

Celedon, nicknamed "Fito," moved to Berkeley a short time later while Nelson was completing her dual master's degrees in architecture and landscape architecture.

Nelson said in an interview on the second anniversary of his death last year that on the day of the shooting they had planned to get up early to visit places in the Bay Area that he had never seen because they didn't own a car. She explained that they normally got around by bicycle but she had rented a hybrid car for their sightseeing venture.

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But at about 3:41 a.m. that morning, Celedon and Nelson were walking home from a party when two robbers attacked them at the corner of Adeline and Emerson streets, a block away from the Ashby BART station and several blocks from their home.

Berkeley police said that during the robbery, one of the suspects shot Celedon and one of them punched Nelson. Paramedics transported Celedon to a local trauma center, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said the two suspects were described by witnesses as black males between the ages of 25 and 35. They said the suspects fled in what was described as a dark older model sports utility vehicle.

There is a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects responsible for Bravo's murder.

Alejandra Celedon described her brother today as "a dreamer who thought he could change the world and stop injustice."

Her brother was "a peaceful boy with a beautiful smile and was very friendly," she said.

Celedon said he had worked as an engineer in Chile but then got interested in the theater and "was completely in love with it."

Celedon said she and other family members have only come to Berkeley once a year since her brother's death but have decided "that's not a good strategy" and will come back more often. She said she plans to return in November and her father probably will come then, too.

The anniversary of his death "is very painful for us," partly because it's also the birthday of his twin sister, Celedon said.

"We're a very close family and we miss him a lot," she said.

Berkeley police said detectives are still actively investigating Celedon's death and anyone with information about the fatal shooting should call their homicide unit at (510) 981-5741 or their non-emergency line at (510) 981-5900.

They said people who want to remain anonymous can call Bay Area Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.